viewWe beat the rain!
01 April – 18:30
Over the seven years that we've lived in this house I've hired two different yard men and taken upon myself the lawn care chores for a number of those years. This year I've hired a new man. Today was his first time working for me and he did an excellent job.
The weather was perfect for yard work today but I just saw the local weather forecast calling for rain and thunderstorms starting tomorrow and lasting for four days. Friday is supposed to be the most stormy and Friday afternoons will be the day we agreed upon that will be best for him to work here.
Depending on the grass and the weather I'll call him on every other Thursday, or every third, and give him the “go ahead” to come over that Friday. This week he did his work today and we won't have to worry about the upcoming rain.
#SeniorLiving #chores
by Roscoe
viewMore chess? Why not?
21 March ~ 09:00
This Saturday in the Roscoe-verse starts like most others: old Westerns are playing quietly on the TV in my room while the rest of the house sleeps, the mug on the table in front of me is about to be refilled with coffee, and weekend plans are being made.
When she returned from a shopping trip last night she told me to be careful when walking out in the front yard, she'd just found two piles of dog poop. Sure enough, when I took the trash out this morning that's what I found. And I found a pile of cat poop on the other side of the yard; I saw a neighborhood cat deliver it yesterday evening. Yuck! So I'll be out front with the poop-scooper in a few minutes.
In happier news I've added added one more active CC game to those I currently have in play. As the China-virus isolation project continues it seems I'll have more time to work on my games. And rather than using my chess time as a casual diversion, I'll have time to study the games more seriously. Who knows, I might even be able to boost my active rating.
#SeniorLiving #chess #chores
by Roscoe
viewAfter cleaning up the poop...
17 March 2020 – 13:00
... left on my front walk by that horrible old man's dog, I decided, “What the heck, as long as I'm out here with rough clothes on,” that it would be good to get some more yard work done.
I had already mowed a patch of the highest grass prior to taking care of the “poopy” chore. So now I hauled out the weedeater, the blower, and a couple of hand trowels...
... and got to work. And I must admit that after that bit of mowing, and cleaning, some trimming, uprooting a few obnoxious weeds, and blowing the sidewalk and driveway clean, things do look (and smell) a bit better out front.
#SeniorLiving #chores #yardwork #SevenTwoProject
by Roscoe
viewNext time the cut will be closer.
11 March 2020 ~ 13:00
The midday temperature in my little corner of the world is moving steadily up through the 70s, the sun is shining brightly, and the yard called out for attention. So I hauled the mower out of the shed and went to work.
The side yard needed the most work so I made some quick passes over it and it does look better now. The rest of the yard can wait for another week or so.
Before putting the machine away I adjusted the wheels to let the blades set much lower. The cut will be close to the ground and the results much more noticeable the next time I mow the lawn.
#SeniorLiving #SevenTwoProject #chores
by Roscoe
viewFor those keeping score, Monday was a good day.
It was a long day, but a good one. There is one specific and time-consuming chore I delegate to every Monday. That would be doing my laundry, and that usually swallows up the middle part of the day, from late morning until late in the afternoon. Such was the case this time. But now it's done for another week – mostly.
And there is another chore that comes on the second Monday evening of each month: my Knights of Columbus Council's business meeting. As an officer of the Council I'm pretty much obligated to attend. This month's meeting was a good one. Everything ran smoothly, and it was good to be in the company of my Brother Knights.
Between those two regularly scheduled chores there was some correspondence and logistics to handle related to this Summer's move to the Philippines. I imagine that between now and the move itself there will be similar items needing attention on most days. Those handled this day went well.
All in all, this Monday was a good day.
#SeniorLiving #KnightsofColumnbus #chores
by Roscoe
... I'm finally ready to start transcribing.
Last week at our monthly business meeting the Recorder (Recording Secretary) was absent and I was asked to take the minutes of the meeting. Though that's a chore I don't particularly enjoy, (honestly, who does?), I agreed to do it.
While the meeting is in progress I do two things: I run a voice recorder app on my phone, and I take down notes with pen on paper. Then, when I can find a solid block of uninterrupted time in my home office, I'll: 1.) copy the recorded audio file onto my computer, 2.) open a template in my word processor, 3.) set my handwritten notes nearby for ready reference, and 4.) begin transcribing the minutes of the meeting into the word processor as I listen to the audio.
The photo above shows the tools all in place and ready for me to start. Sometimes I can breeze through the process and have an acceptable draft of the minutes ready to print in just a few short hours. Other times... well, I hope this will be one of the easy times. But with my glaucoma and cataracts acting up, this could take a few days.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #health #personal #chores
by Roscoe
09:30 on Christmas morning finds things quiet in the house.
My main chores of the day are already accomplished. I've done my cat-sitting duty for the next door neighbor while she's on vacation (made sure water and cat food are set out, cleaned the cat litter). And I've loaded Sylvia's PM pill boxes for another week.
This afternoon I'll be taking Sylvia out to see a movie. Hope we enjoy Jumanji: The Next Level as much as we did Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle when we saw it at the theater. I suspect we will. Lots of light-hearted laughter, good for the soul.
And the adventure continues.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
Waking early, I texted the next door neighbor lady to wish her a happy vacation and to verify the cat sitting I'll be doing for her while she's gone. She has a number of inside cats (4 or 5? I'm not sure) and I'll be checking on them every 2 days or so, cleaning the litter box, and putting out fresh food and water. She'll be gone a little over two weeks, so no big deal.
I took S out to brunch at one of our favorite restaurants and have just sent her out to get her nails done for Christmas. That's always a big deal for her, getting the nails done. Seems rather silly to me, and needlessly expensive, but it makes her happy. So...
And I spent nearly an hour out in the front yard with the leaf blower. Every week the city empties my big organics bin and I'm thinking it may take a month or so for them to haul away those leaves. Then I'll start on the back yard leaves. And then it will be time to start mowing the grass on a regular basis. Yardwork. Boo!
Now I'm relaxing in front of the TV, watching my woeful Dallas Cowboys trying to lose another football game.
And the adventure continues.
#SenioLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
... today's gloomy, drizzly rain has been welcome. It's kept me inside where I can rest.
Taking S to dinner this evening then doing a bit of shopping before we return home will be enough extra activity for today. We'll see what the weather's like tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some more work done on the front yard then. Maybe.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
... it's to cold to work out in the garage, so I'll settle for working on inside chores again today.
After I get S off to work in the morning I generally finish my breakfast, catch a YouTube video, and doze for a bit. That mid-morning or late morning nap is a luxury of the retired life I've come to appreciate greatly. And that was my pattern today.
Still before Noon I ordered S a Christmas gift and a birthday gift online. The merchant promised a delivery before December 24 and I do hope it arrives on time. And I babysat an Operating System upgrade to my big laptop. That upgrade from Linux Mint 18.3 to 19.3 was pretty automatic, but I still had to watch it happen and follow a few special directions as the process moved along.
This afternoon will find me sorting through paperwork in my home office, throwing out the unnecessary stuff that has accumulated and looking especially for a work order from my doctor that I'll need to take to the lab for some blood work to be done soon. And I'll be spending some time on the stepper exercise machine.
And the adventure continues.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe